


No, Don't Do That

by orphan_account



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Almost Drowning, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asta Whump, Changed the rating, Charmy Whump, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Finral Whump, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, I took away all the happy tags because im in the midst of writing some dark shit, Kidnapping, Luck Whump, Magna Whump, Noelle Whump, Non-Graphic Violence, Parental Yami, Slavery, Solitary Confinement, Starvation, This fic has a weird sense of humor at first then gets darker, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2020-09-02 02:48:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20268778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Yami goes on a mission with some of his squad. He was expecting to beat people up, not for them to be kidnapped by an old enemy. No one messes with the Black Bulls and gets off easy.Read the tags, please.





	1. Of Cowards and Knights

Yami couldn't believe it. They'd been searching through the woods for _eight days,_ and they still couldn't find this supposed group of bandits they needed to beat up! 

Normally, he wouldn't even go on a small fry mission like this, but he felt like beating people up and that was just that. Besides, he wanted to see the brats in action-- it had been awhile. He didn't have the whole of the Bulls with him, just Asta, Noelle, Luck, Magna, Finral, and Charmy. The rest were either just back from a mission or still on one.

Currently, they were setting up camp for the night. Yami was figuring out who would have lookout duty at what times. 

_ Asta, Charmy, Magna, Noelle, Finral, Luck, me? No, what about Noelle, Luck, Asta, Magna, Finral, Luck, me, then Charmy? Should I bother with lookout duty at all? I don't feel like it, but something in my gut's telling me to stay alert tonight. . ._

_Fuck it, I'll be up all night anyway._

"Charmy, let us have some marshmallows too!" 

"C'mon, spare some for your senior? Please?"

"I'll fight you for them!"

Hm. He should probably stop them before they started yelling more. He felt a headache coming on. . .

* * *

**Like, a few hours later:**

* * *

Magna couldn't sleep for the life of him. This wasn't anything new --restless nights were part of the contract as a magic knight, he's seen some shit-- but the fact that one had to pop up on a mission bugged him a little. He had to be well-rested in order to work at his full potential! 

He sighed and turned over again, wrestling with his blankets. He probably should have brought something to do. Really, that would make this much easier. 

A scream rang out from inside the camp. Magna shot up and ran outside just in time to see Asta --sword-swinging like mad-- get hit with a blast from behind. Not willing to waste another second (how much longer could he just _sit there? _so un-manly!) he lunged into action, throwing as many fireballs as he could towards their attacker(s?). From the corner of his eye, he saw Noelle go down, then Luck, and then-- the others were already down? 

He was the only one left.

Where was the Captain?

The enemy mages surrounded him from sides. He couldn't fend them all off alone! They were obviously strong, to take down his teammates so quickly, even if they were cowards. One mage, their leader based off of the everything about him (especially the condescending look on his face, what a bastard) stepped in front of the group.

"Well, this is unexpected! I was expecting the sword brat to put up more of a challenge than you, although I suppose he had more men focused on him, hm?" 

"Who are you? Why did you attack us? Where's our Captain?" 

"Now, now! No need to rush into things! Your questions will all be answered in time, but for now. . ." --the mage summoned his grimoire-- "I think it's time you rest, hm?" 

Magna felt really dizzy. The world looked. . . weird. There were all kinds of colors, and his friends were there. . . Wait-- weren't they knocked out? He felt so tired, why not sleep on it? Thinking was never his strong suit anyway. . . 

* * *

The man smiled as he watched the last Black Bull member hit the ground. Six members of Yami Sukehiro's squad! That was more than enough bait. 

"My Lord, their Captain is returning fast!"

"Good thing we're faster then, hm?" 

They disappeared into the night.


	2. Doom and Gloom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Bulls find themselves in a bad situation. Meanwhile, their Captain races to rescue them while wondering how he even let this happen in the first place.

Asta felt horrible. His back felt wet and his arms ached and for the first time in a long time he couldn't feel his grimoire by his side. 

_He couldn't feel his grimoire--_

He tried to move his arms to feel for it, but they stayed above his head no matter how hard he tugged. His vision was slowly coming into focus, and he just now realized it normally didn't take that long.

There was only a sliver of light coming from some unknown place. Under a door. . . _oh_

He was in a cell._ He'd been captured._

Where were the others? Did they get caught too? Was there anyone else in the cell with him? No, he was alone-- Wait! What if they were _hurt?_ The people who kidnapped them sure as hell wouldn't do anything to treat their wounds! The wound on his back wasn't healed at all, so why would they be any different?

He heard voices coming from the outside. He didn't care. All he focused on was trying to break free. He was strong right? He could swing two giant swords around like they were nothing! He could do over two hundred sit-ups in a little under three minutes! Surely, breaking some chains couldn't be _that_ hard! 

. . . It was _that hard. _

The door opened and Asta had to blink a few times to get used to the light. In came the generic-looking asshole that was almost definitely the leader of the guys who kidnapped them. He had that "I Have a God Complex™" look. 

"So, you're the famous Asta! I will admit, I didn't expect you to go down so easily," said the guy.

"WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?" Fuck this guy and his a cliché bullcrap, what the hell did he do with them?

"I'm assuming you mean the other members of your squad-" --the guy coughed for awhile before regaining his snobby attitude-- "They are alive. We cannot kill you until your dear captain manages to track us down, you see?"

Why the hell did all the bad guys talk like that? "Why?" 

"You'll see in time, boy. For now, let's go have some fun." The chains unlocked out of nowhere, but the minute they did Asta's body went numb. He couldn't move a muscle.

* * *

Why didn't the enemy kill him while he was knocked out? The damn note they left didn't make any fucking sense.

"_Got your calves*, come and find them! ;)"_

What the fuck? Whatever, he just had to make it back to camp. It wasn't that far off. Then he could get healed up and get his squad in on the chase. 

It was just through this clearing.

Oh shit.

The tents were turned over. There were scorch marks on the ground, some a giant smear, others shaped more like cracks in glass. There were trees with holes in them or just chopped up completely. Everything in one area was just soaking wet. There were scuff marks of shoes on the ground and too much cotton was floating in the air. 

His squad had been here, but now they were gone.

These bastards were going to _pay._

* * *

The first thing Luck noticed upon waking up was the sheer amount of mana he could feel in the air. This place, wherever it was, was ripe with it. The issue there was it definitely didn't belong to the place itself. There was something mixed about it. Like it was from a lot of different people. It was also still very much connected to whoever's mana it was initially, just trapped on the outside. 

He could feel his own mana, and found it was in the same state. 

Oh, these guys were _super strong_, then! He was looking forward to fighting them when he got out.

Of course, he would have to either break out or be broken out for that to happen. 

He was hanging upside down by his ankles with two weird bracelets on his wrists. A quick jolt from his mana when he tried to remove them told him they were the things keeping his mana from coming back into his body.

Hm. So he couldn't remove them on his own then? Shame.

Where was everybody? 

Why was it so dark where he was? 

* * *

Charmy hadn't eaten anything in hours! How cruel of these people? How mean! And they chained her up too! Rude! Rude! 

The worst part, though? The worst part? There was a guy in front of her, EATING! They did have food, they were just greedy! Greedy, mean people! 

Oh well! Her friends would break in and give her food anytime now! Or maybe her food-saving Prince would come back! Yes! Yes! 

All she had to do was wait.

* * *

Magna was going to _kill_ that bastard! He couldn't use his magic! Where the hell was his squad? He was their senior, dammit! Why wasn't he with them? 

Why was the floor wet?

Was he in a cave?

Well, if he couldn't get out (he'd tried) then someone else would have to. They were all okay!

Definitely.

* * *

Noelle was in a gigantic, brightly lit room. It looked like a cathedral. Domed, intricately painted, etc . . . There was a throne at the back. A large one, with steps leading up to it. 

"Welcome, child." 

She hadn't even noticed the man standing behind her. 

"Who are you? Why am I here? Where's--" 

"Shh. . . You can have answers to all of your questions, but first, I want you to follow me."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "NO! WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?" 

"You want your friends? I can give them back to you. You simply must do as I say. Now, follow me." 

"You. . . You'll really give them back?"

"Yes. Now follow me."

With no other choice, she obeyed.

* * *

Finral was in some kind of workplace. There were people moving around a lot, dealing with items or arming themselves _(Not great,_ he decided.) He was chained to the floor with cuffs around his wrists, his ankles, and (most disturbingly), his throat. He had a lot of questions, (where was he, who were these people, where were his friends, why was he chained here) but he didn't dare stop anyone to ask them.

Suddenly, one of the armed men walked up to him. "Transport me to the city of Green." 

Despite everything, Finral managed the courage to squeak out a "no". 

The spear wound in his leg made him change his mind, however.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *baby bulls are called calves idk I thought it was clever or something when I wrote it


	3. It Gets Worse. . .

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yami searches for his squad. Meanwhile, the Black Bulls' kidnappers begin to enact their plan.

Six days with nothing to show for it. _Nothing._ He'd called Julius, been forced to organize search parties, done research in the fucking _library_, but still nothing! Not a single lead. 

The rest of his squad wasn't doing so well. They wanted to go out and search too, but seeing as the Black Bulls seemed to be the group's only targets, he put the whole rest of the squad on house arrest until they could figure out what was going on.

He had to say though, he hadn't expected the royal families to get so involved. Nozel, Nebra, and Solid had been searching day-in and day-out for their little sister. House Vermilion was doing much the same for their cousin. Even _Langris Vaude_ was out there looking for his brother.

Yami didn't expect that spoiled brat to give a rat's ass where Finral was. (Little fucker almost didn't have the right to after the shit show that was the Royal Knights Exam.) Frankly, when the brat first walked in to apply for a search party, Yami nearly threw him out the window. It took orders from Julius and a long-ass pep talk from William to get Yami to agree. 

At this point, he was almost losing hope. But, hey, _FUCK_ thatmentality because he was surpassing his limits and bringing his stupid squad back whether they liked it or not! 

* * *

Luck stared into the dark. There wasn't anything else to look at, really. He felt hungry once or twice, but eventually he would just stop feeling that way. He was really thirsty too, but he wasn't dying. They must've set something up to feed him while he was unconscious or something. That was fine with him, he was alive!

He thought so, anyway. 

No, he wasn't dead. He could still feel mana. Mana tended to exist in the living. There were still lots of strong signatures in the mix, he was so excited to break free and fight them! 

He would also really like to see some light. Or another person in general. 

He spent most of his time trying to pick out his friends' mana from the air. It was faint, but he could feel them. Charmy, Asta (he was more like an empty space within the mana, most people's senses couldn't even find the guy because they didn't know to look around _and_ inside the mana), Noelle, Magna, and Finral were all with him. Just not in person! That was okay, they couldn't help it.

Really, it was just nice to be able to know someone was there.

* * *

There was the food.

There was Charmy.

There was the food.

There was Charmy.

_There was the food._

_ There was Charmy._

_ So WHY couldn't she eat?_

This was definitely the longest Charmy had ever been without food. It had been. . . HOURS, surely! Yes, a whole three hours she'd bet!

It felt like there was a hole in her stomach. Her bones were bonier, too. They would stab into her thigh while she slept or make her see colors after rubbing her eyes. She was getting smaller, how odd!

The food was right in front of her. It wasn't very _good _ looking food. It looked like the cheapest meal at this one crappy inn in the Common Realm. One that was more about seeing girls than eating food. Finral had taken her to one or two, but this one she'd stumbled upon on her own, during a mission. 

It had been different from the others. It wasn't warm or brightly lit, and the girls didn't look very happy. Or smile. They wore. . . nothing basically. Nothing but these odd bracelets <strike>(she recognized them from somewhere)</strike>. And there were mean-looking people in every corner. When she'd gotten home and told her friends about it, they all looked worried. They asked where it was, what the mean people looked like, and if they tried to grab her. Not long after, Captain sent Luck, Magna, and Zora to go and find it, but it had disappeared. 

Her stomach growled again. She felt sleepy. Briefly, she noticed that she looked a little like the girls at that inn. She was too tired to know why that made her feel scared.

* * *

Cold.

It was so, _so _cold! 

This wasn't good for a fire wizard! Not at all!

Granted, it probably wasn't too great for anyone.

When Magna had first noticed the slowly rising _(slowly, so slowly._ . .) water, he'd panicked. He thought his biggest concerns were gonna be holding his breath and learning how to swim.

Now that it was up to his knees, that was all forgotten in place of the _freezing cold_. 

It wasn't warm in the cave to begin with. The whole place was wet and slimy and had the chilly air of going out to train in the morning without a jacket. That he could deal with. He did it all the time! He knew there were puddles, but since the whole place reeked from the slime he assumed it was just a naturally wet place. He'd been in plenty of 'em! Dungeons, the Water Temple, hunting bandits in the rain, he knew being wet and uncomfortable pretty damn well! 

Around two naps later, he coulda sworn the puddles were bigger. Four naps in, and the whole _floor_ was a shallow puddle. Ten naps in; it was lapping at his ankles and the temperature had dropped to about _-50°._

He'd tried everything. He stuck his arms in his sleeves, ran around for a bit (he was too malnourished to really do anything, he'd probably've been dead by now if he hadn't been drinkin' the stupid cold water), rubbed his hands together, and even tried the breathing exercise Vanessa forced him to learn that one time (who would've thought she'd be in to meditation?). Nothing helped.

At this rate, he'd die of hypothermia before he drowned.

* * *

Asta took in a shuddered breath. His arms stung, his back was burning, and it just hurt so much. . .

That creep who kidnapped them decided that letting his friends try out some of their spells on him was a good idea. They happily complied. They hit Asta over and over and over again-- he'd wanted to cry so _badly--_

But he had to be strong! He had to push through it for his friends! He couldn't cry on front of the bastards who were probably hurting them just as much of him! If he cried, he broke, and then they would move everything they used on him onto someone else.

That couldn't happen.

(It hurt so _bad_ though.)

* * *

Finral collapsed. He had nothing left. Not a single ounce of mana. Not a scrap of energy. Nothing. There was still so much to do, and they were yelling at him, and he didn't care because he couldn't move of he wanted to. 

His life now (and likely forever) consisted of moving people and boxes. Boxes and people. Move them here, move them to the border, move them to nowhere land. If he couldn't move them, he was punished. If he refused, he punished worse. 

"Punishment" wasn't consistent. It depended entirely on who you failed. It could be a stab to the thigh, a kick to the head, a spell sent your way. Sometimes it was done where you were, sometimes you were dragged off to some side room.

(Sometimes people didn't come back from that room, he tried not to think about it. Thinking got you punished.)

On the slim chance he ever got out of here, he would never complain about being used as a glorified chauffeur again. At least people _thanked_ him (on occasion). At least they _smiled_ at him. At least they _fed_ him. At least he wasn't _chained to the fucking floor_.

He'd tried to escape once already. That ended badly. That ended in the punishment that put him in his current position: too weak and feeble to move. Utterly exhausted with blood still oozing out of his arm. 

His friends could have escaped better. Maybe they already had. Maybe they were back home with the others, playing card games or something. Maybe they were looking for him. 

Maybe not.

It wouldn't matter to him. He wouldn't blame them. He was helping the enemy, after all, and it was almost definitely impossible to escape with another person. That was how he got caught. He was looking for them and stuck around too long. He should have run out the door, gotten the magic-sealers off, and portaled help to their location. Instead, he stuck around and got caught like the fool he was.

If he got the chance, he would do better next time.

(If he lived through the night.)

* * *

Noelle destroyed yet another target. This was ridiculous! They promised her answers and gave her accuracy practice! No matter how much she begged and screamed they wouldn't tell her a thing, they just gave her more targets.

It was probably the desperation, but her aim was getting better.

The door to the training room opened and a man walked in. "Well done! I'm so proud of you! Now. . . How about we put you through the details of the process?"

"What process?"

"The process that keeps your friends alive! Obviously."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I switched to writing each character more like they speak in their dialogue. Lemme know what you think! 
> 
> Also wow, I finally got this chapter out. Have fun not seeing me for another eight weeks. Writing these is a fuckin process, man.


	4. Manipulation and Partial Salvation

Two men sat in their houses. Suddenly, one fell dead. Then, the other did, only a block away. Both crime scenes were drenched in water. A young woman was found drowned a day later. A soldier was lying dead at his post a few hours after. A wave from nowhere drowned a town's harvest. Hikers never came back from their walks.

It was all her fault. But anything, _anything_ for them.

* * *

Yami couldn't figure out why he was here. It would probably be another dead end. That cult case looked more likely, but. . . Something about this string of murders was egging him. It was screaming for his attention. He had to look here.

Clearly, it was the work of someone with water magic. A very unconventional person, what with how they just seemed to throw water at their problems. There were flowers often found at the scenes of the crime, as if the killer was trying to pay their respects to those they had killed. Like they hadn't _wanted_ to do it.

Wait a damn minute. . .

_WAIT A DAMN MINUTE_

* * *

Nozel got a letter from Yami. _"She's at Freken Village. Get here." _Nozel hired a carriage.

It was time he apologized for a few things.

* * *

Noelle stood by the enterence to the cave. She was cold, she was hungry, and. . . She was. . . So sleepy. . .

A pair of arms caught her before she could hit the ground.

"You're safe now, you brat. Rest easy."

..........

She awoke to frantic talking between two people. Something about cover-ups and locations and appeals. 

"Noelle! You're awake!"

There was no way. That sounded like. . . "Nozel?"

"Yes! Yes. It's me, and-- I'm sorry for everything. I-I have apologized before but. . . It seems fitting now too, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. . ." Did he even know what she did? What happened?

"Hey brat!" 

"Captain!" She was pulled into a large hug. 

"We've got a lot to fill you in on, kid. But first, do you know where the others are?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, it isn't really the best or longest thing I've ever written but it's better to pump out something mediocre than just never finish. The last chapter should end up better but I don't know.


End file.
